The integration of electronic components in textile consumer items, such as e.g. items of clothing, requires not only the implementation of the electronic circuits but also the implementation of an apparatus for data inputting, in particular a tactile user interface. Despite ever more sophisticated possibilities of voice control systems, key inputting is still necessary or desirable in many applications since, on the one hand, voice control systems can only be used to a limited extent in many situations and, on the other hand, key inputs can often be carried out more reliably, more simply and more rapidly. By way of example, a continuously variable volume control cannot be realized in a convenient manner by means of voice control systems.
Known attempts to integrate keyboards or input apparatuses into a textile environment comprise, in particular, incorporating or sewing conventional flexible keyboards into a textile fabric carrier. Furthermore, multilayer material fabric structures are known in which, by means of mechanical actuation, an electrical contact or proximity can be produced in the multilayer construction and read resistively or capacitively. Finally, keyboards whose keys and leads have been embroidered on or sewn on from conductive and nonconductive strips have also been proposed.
Although input apparatuses having a multilayer material fabric structure are well suited to the realization of touch sensors (touch pads) having a high spatial resolution, since a matrix structure prescribed by the textile structure is read, what is disadvantageous is that these systems comprise multilayer textiles and that, at the edge of the input area, in some instances a large number of connections have to be fed to an electronic evaluation device. The likewise known possibility of fitting input keys of a keypad to the textile carrier in particular by embroidery or sewing methods admittedly enables a high degree of freedom with regard to the configuration and arrangement of the key devices, but harbors the disadvantage that this involves a complicated and thus cost-intensive manufacturing step downstream of the textile production method.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to specify an input apparatus which can be integrated into a textile environment in a simple manner and which is accessible to an industrial scale manufacturing process. Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to specify a method for producing such an input apparatus.